History YMMV / EarthseaTrilogy

* {{Anvilicious}}: [[WriterOnBoard The feminist themes]] in ''Tehanu'' are the complete opposite of subtle. Thankfully toned down much more in ''The Other Wind''.
** Considering how sexist the earlier Earthsea books are and how a lot of real life women still suffer from the same limitations, probably a case of SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped.
* FandomRivalry: A little with ''Literature/HarryPotter''; inevitable given the two series' similar premises and that popular things will always be compared to everything. Earthsea fans feel that it was popularity-snubbed in favor of the (to them) more poorly-written/unliterary ''Potter''. It doesn't help that Le Guin herself has criticized the series.
** Most of her venom seems reserved for clueless reporters who don't realize how much Rowling adapted/borrowed from old fantasies (including this one)... Quoth Le Guin, "I read a review that called the Harry Potter Books a great, original work. I agree with the first part."
* FanonDiscontinuity: Some would rather she'd stopped after the first three.
* FlatCharacter: Aspen seems to exist simply to be there so ''Tehanu'' can have more in-universe feminist themes and a driving antagonist. As a character, it doesn't seem he has ''[[StrawMisogynist any real motives]]'' for completely hating women at all.
** Aspen's motivations was clear enough: he was [[DragonAscendant a follower of Cob]] and jealous of Ogion's trust in Tenar. He used Earthsea's common prejudices against witches (that had been established as far back as the first book) as one of multiple methods by which to attack her, and by extension Ged, and undermine their authority.
* HoYay: Arren's introduction to Ged in ''The Farthest Shore.'' Look inside the text, you know it to be true. There's also a little bit between Ged and Vetch in ''A Wizard of Earthsea''.
* SeasonalRot: A common fan response to ''Tehanu'' and subsequent books. ''The Other Wind'' probably attracts the most criticism for the revelation that [[spoiler: the afterlife featured in the original trilogy was actually created by the wizards and blocks human souls from a blissful reincarnation. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20050907131553/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/main/classicswizardearthsea People who admired the bleak and austere character of the "Dry Land"]] tended to feel that this robbed the world of Earthsea of its poignancy.]]
* WriterOnBoard: Le Guin was always a feminist, but between writing the third and fourth books of the series, she came to view many of the classic fantasy tropes she'd used in the original trilogy as sexist. Which, to be fair, they totally were. What else could you call a world that bars women from one of its most important callings (magical education) and has "weak/wicked as women's magic" as a common saying? The fourth book, ''Tehanu'', has a drastically different tone and perspective, and many readers ended up feeling like they were being told they were wrong and stupid for having liked the earlier books. The fifth book, ''The Other Wind'', follows up on the themes from ''Tehanu'' but strikes most readers as markedly less preachy.
** FridgeBrilliance: [[MakesSenseInContext Makes sense]] when you consider who [[UnreliableNarrator the main character]] of ''Tehanu'' and most of ''The Other Wind'' is.
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* WriterOnBoard: Le Guin was always a feminist, but between writing the third and fourth books of the series, she came to view many of the classic fantasy tropes she'd used in the original trilogy as sexist. The fourth book, ''Tehanu'', has a drastically different tone and perspective, and many readers ended up feeling like they were being told they were wrong and stupid for having liked the earlier books. The fifth book, ''The Other Wind'', follows up on the themes from ''Tehanu'' but strikes most readers as markedly less preachy.

** FridgeBrilliance: [[MakesSenseInContext Makes sense]] when you consider who [[UnreliableNarrator the main character]] of Tehanu and most of The Other Wind is.

** Most of her venom seems reserved for clueless reporters who don't realize how much Rowling adapted/borrowed from old fantasies (including this one)... Quoth LeGuin, "I read a review that called the Harry Potter Books a great, original work. I agree with the first part."

** Most of her venom seems reserved for clueless reporters who don't realize how much Rowling adapted/borrowed from old fantasies (including this one).. Quoth LeGuin, "I read a review that called the Harry Potter Books a great, original work. I agree with the first part.."

** Aspen's motivations was clear enough: he was [[DragonAscendant a follower of Cob]] and jealous of Ogion's thrust in Tenar. He used Earthsea's common prejudices against witches (that had been established as far back as the first book) as one of multiple methods by which to attack her, and by extension Ged, and undermine their authority.

* SeasonalRot: A common fan response to ''Tehanu'' and subsequent novels. ''The Other Wind'' probably attracts the most criticism for the revelation that [[spoiler: the afterlife featured in the original trilogy was actually created by the wizards and blocks human souls from a blissful reincarnation. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20050907131553/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/main/classicswizardearthsea People who admired the bleak and austere character of the "Dry Land"]] tended to feel that this robbed the world of Earthsea of its poignancy.]]

* FlatCharacter: Aspen seems to exist simply to be there so ''Tehanu'' can have more in-universe feminist themes and a driving antagonist. As a character, it doesn't seem he has ''any real motives'' for completely hating women at all.

* {{Anvilicious}}:: [[WriterOnBoard The feminist themes]] in ''Tehanu'' are the complete opposite of subtle. Thankfully toned down much more in ''The Other Wind''.

* FandomRivalry: A little with ''HarryPotter''; inevitable given the two series' similar premises and that popular things will always be compared to everything. Earthsea fans feel that it was popularity-snubbed in favor of the (to them) more poorly-written/unliterary ''Potter''. It doesn't help that Le Guin herself has criticized the series.

* FandomRivalry: A little with ''HarryPotter''; inevitable given the two series' similar premises. Earthsea fans feel that it was snubbed in favor of the (to them) more poorly-written/unliterary ''Potter''. It doesn't help that Le Guin herself has criticized the series.

* WriterOnBoard: [=LeGuin=] was always a feminist, but between writing the third and fourth books of the series, she came to view many of the classic fantasy tropes she'd used in the original trilogy as sexist. The fourth book, ''Tehanu'', has a drastically different tone and perspective, and many readers ended up feeling like they were being told they were wrong and stupid for having liked the earlier books. The fifth book, ''The Other Wind'', follows up on the themes from ''Tehanu'' but strikes most readers as markedly less preachy.

* WriterOnBoard: [=LeGuin=] was always a feminist, but between writing the third and fourth books of the series, she came to view many of the classic fantasy tropes she'd used in the original trilogy as sexist. The fourth book, ''Tehanu'', has a drastically different tone and perspective, and [[YourMileageMayVary many readers]] ended up feeling like they were being told they were wrong and stupid for having liked the earlier books. The fifth book, ''The Other Wind'', follows up on the themes from ''Tehanu'' but strikes most readers as markedly less preachy.

* AdaptationDecay: Twice. A Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, and an animated film by Goro Miyazaki. [=LeGuin=] [[http://www.ursulakleguin.com/GedoSenkiResponse.html didn't like]] either of them. Hayao Miyazaki was the only filmmaker she trusted with her work. What actually happened is hardly less than a bait-and-switch and it's understandable if after the disappointing (to her) result she was further disappointed to find that she wouldn't have needed to settle for his son at all.\\
\\
The Sci-Fi miniseries, on the other hand, made every character (except for a [[TokenMinority token black guy]]) white. [=LeGuin=] [[http://www.slate.com//id/2111107/ was not amused.]] The Ghibli version also got this criticism, but it was put down to {{Mukokuseki}} -- the widespread use of characters without firm racial characteristics in Anime. [=LeGuin=] stated at a convention that she understands this trope as it applies to Japanese animation, and does not place it in quite the same context as the above miniseries.

* AdaptationDecay: Twice. A Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, and an animated film by Goro Miyazaki. [=LeGuin=] didn't like either of them.
** To be precise, she said the Ghibli film was fine, it just wasn't Earthsea.
*** She actually [[http://www.ursulakleguin.com/GedoSenkiResponse.html criticized it for things other than not being Earthsea]] as well.
*** Though whether the Ghibli situation is actual decay or more AdaptationDistillation is up to the viewer. One of [=LeGuin's=] complains was that Hayao wasn't actually retiring. Considering how many times he's almost retired this hardly seems like a point of contention.
**** It's certainly a point of contention for [=LeGuin=], though, since Hayao Miyazaki was the only filmmaker she trusted with her work. What actually happened is hardly less than a bait-and-switch and it's understandable if after the disappointing (to her) result she was further disappointed to find that she wouldn't have needed to settle for his son at all.
** The Sci-Fi miniseries, on the other hand, made every character (except for a [[TokenMinority token black guy]]) [[RaceLift white]]. [=LeGuin=] [[http://www.slate.com//id/2111107/ was not amused.]]
*** Not to mention all their other crimes against the books.
*** The Ghibli version also got this criticism, but that's [[{{Mukokuseki}} a different trope]]
**** Possibly a redacted criticism: [=LeGuin=] stated at a convention that she understands this trope as it applies to Japanese animation, and does not place it in quite the same context as the above miniseries.

* HoYayShipping: Arren's introduction to Ged in ''The Farthest Shore.'' Look inside the text, you know it to be true. There's also a little bit between Ged and Vetch in ''A Wizard of Earthsea''.